My dear readers,

Christmas: Bearing Record (John 1:29-34)

Christmas is one of the most celebrated global events in the world. It is loved by billions. Billions of dollars are made by merchants of all walks of life. Regardless of the nation’s form of government, Christmas is commemorated in one way or another with bright lights, Christmas trees and the exchange of gifts. Santa Claus, reindeers, mistletoes, elves, and all forms of sentimental representations of Christmas have masked the real meaning of Christmas. The world despises the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, even though the name of Christ is found in Christmas, the world continues to use it because it has given the real meaning of Christmas a complete makeover. Christ and the true meaning of Christmas have been irreversibly erased. The spiritual witness for Christ in Christmas is dead to the world today!

However, it must never die in the hearts, minds and lives of God's children. They must know their duty to Him who died for them. It is with this duty in mind, as it was for John the Baptist, that every believer must never let the spiritual message of Christ die. John 1:29-34 testifies, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”

A Record of the Greatest Coming (John 1:29-30) – In terms of planning, it is the greatest coming because God planned it more than 6,000 years ago. It is the greatest in terms of the millions of people involved. In terms of scope and impact, it is the greatest because it has the power to save billions of sinners from death and hell! John could see this greatest coming because God opened his blind eyes to see. John was the only human who was saved before he was born, for the Bible says that he was “filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (cf. Luke 1:15b). No one can be filled with the Holy Spirit unless the Holy Spirit dwells in him. When Jesus Christ came to be baptized by John the Baptist, John recognised Jesus and declared, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

Jesus Christ was called the Lamb because the lamb in the Old Testament was a God-ordained clean animal that was sacrificed to take away the sins of the people. One such example was the Passover lamb that was to be killed and its blood dabbed onto the lintel and door posts of the entrance of every Jewish home. This incident began in Egypt when God punished the Egyptians in the tenth plague with the death of their firstborn sons. However, when the unblemished lamb was killed and eaten by every Jewish family, the lives of their firstborn were spared. The LORD passed over the home when He saw the blood of the lamb covering the entrance of that home. The spiritual message for them was that one day in the future there would be the Lamb of God, i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ, who would come and die for them. Jesus Christ is called the perfect and sinless Lamb of God because Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God sent by God from heaven to come down to earth in flesh and blood to die for the sins of the world. John recognised Jesus Christ and said that Jesus Christ was “before him,” i.e. Christ existed before John even though John was born six months earlier than Christ.

A Record of the Greatest Message (John 1:31- 32) – When John said “he knew him not,” he meant that he was not acquainted with Christ until the time Christ came to be baptized. Jesus lived in Nazareth in the Galilean region, whereas John lived in the desert area south of Galilee until he began his ministry. This does not mean that John was not born again. John knew that his calling was to make straight the hearts of the people of God to prepare them to receive Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, i.e. Messiah in Hebrew. John’s ministry was to preach repentance of sins, for Jesus Christ was coming to save! His way of identification as a believer was to be baptized. It was a baptism of repentance. Jesus Christ came to be baptized by John to fulfil all righteousness even though He has no sin.

As John baptized Jesus Christ, he saw or looked closely at the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it remained on Christ. The Holy Spirit cannot be seen since He is a Spirit. Yet in this instance and for John’s benefit, God allowed man to see the reality and ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit abode upon, and not in, Christ. The Holy Spirit came to anoint Christ’s ministry. The Holy Spirit did not enter and dwell in Christ like He does to a sinner upon his salvation. To say the Holy Spirit dwelled in Christ would be to say that Christ was not born again. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit experience is for believers only. The baptism of Christ was very significant as we see the Trinity involved at the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry. God the Father spoke from heaven (cf. Luke 3:21-22), Jesus was on earth being baptized and the Holy Spirit descended and abode upon Him.

To be able to see and tell others this amazing ministry of Christ as He lived, suffered and died for the sins of the world is the greatest message. There is no message on earth that has an eternal impact and that includes conquering death in every believer’s life. This ministry of Christ to save the world from sin involved all the three Persons in the Godhead!

A Record of the Greatest Experience (John 1:33-34) – When God sent John to baptize, i.e. to begin his ministry as the forerunner of Christ’s first coming, God told him that the One he would see the Spirit descend and remain on would be the Saviour of the world. Christ will baptize with the Holy Spirit whereas every man will be baptized with water. What it means is that when a sinner is given the gospel of Christ according to Scriptures, the Holy Spirit will convict him with the truth of the gospel, that Christ died on the cross for his sins and He rose from the dead for his justification; when the sinner believes with all his heart and surrenders his life to Christ unconditionally, Jesus will see his sincerity and He will baptize him with the Holy Spirit. When this happens, the Holy Spirit will dwell in him forever and he is then born again and will be transformed instantly from a sinner into a saint! This is every believer’s experience.

Then all believers like John are able to say sincerely, “I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God.” The word “see” here means to discern clearly. It is a spiritual sight rather than a physical one. For John, it was both physical and mental. But for all believers it is mental only. We have seen Christ by faith, not his visage. But faith is all we need, for without faith it is impossible to please God (cf. Heb 11:6). 

Conclusion – It is to be expected that the world would distort the witness of Christmas. The devil cannot afford to have even a residual image of Jesus Christ in the celebration of Christmas for fear of its power to save sinners. He cunningly cloaked it in sentimental carnality through the exchange of gifts and doing good works knowing that all sinners will die in their sins without Christ. But believers must bear record for Christ wherever they are, 365 days of the year and not on Christmas day only. The record of the greatest coming, its message and experience must be shared with the world so that they too can be saved. May God use all His children in these lasts days to bear a clear record of all that Christ has done for us. Amen.